From 17th to 5th: Ryan Wood’s Epic Charge Steals Spotlight in Nascar-Style Supercars Thriller

After two energetic back-to-back qualifying sessions earlier today, Race 4 of the 2025 Supercars season did not disappoint in a 18-lap Nascar-style thriller. Just as fans thought it couldn’t get much better after the nail-biting Sydney 500, the Supercars drivers stepped it up to a new level. What an exciting start to the 2025 Melbourne Supersprint.

Kiwi talent dominated the Top 10 starting grid, with Grove Racing’s Matt Payne starting 6th, PremiAir Racing’s Richie Stanaway starting 7th and Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner in 8th. Matt Payne headed into this weekend as the Top Kiwi in the current driver standings in 5th position after an exciting Sydney 500 in February.

Blanchard Racing Team Driver James Courtney could not make it to the grid in time after an incident in Practice 2 saw his No.7 Ford Mustang make heavy contact with the wall, suffering severe damage to the car’s left rear. Courtney will be back tomorrow for Race 5.

The action started from the get-go, with drivers going three wide into Turn 1 on the first lap. By the end of Lap 1, Triple Eight Racing driver Broc Feeney had pulled away with a 1-second gap from the rest of the field, with teammate Will Brown struggling to match Feeney’s pace.

Walkinshaw Andretti driver Ryan Wood was the star of the race for fans back home in New Zealand. Wood started in 17th position and, by Lap 5, was up to 10th place, gaining an impressive seven spots. Wood got his elbows up against teammate Chaz Mostert, James Golding, and Anton De Pasquale, moving up into 6th place while Mostert moved down into 12th.

Next on Wood’s hit list was fellow Kiwi Matt Payne, who made an error while battling against 2023 Supercars Champion Brodie Kostecki, allowing Wood to pass into 5th place. It was a battle right to the end against Wood and Kostecki, bumper-to-bumper, giving fans some edge-of-your-seat racing!

The amount of aggression and determination in Wood’s driving this evening was sensational. An applaudable Top 5 finish after showing promising pace after topping the first practice session and qualifying 10th for tomorrow’s race. He is one to watch this weekend.

Grove Racing’s Matthew Payne was another top contender in today’s race, starting 6th and battling in the Top 5 for most of the race, including an exciting battle between himself and ex-teammate Richie Stanaway, with Payne keeping Stanaway at his rear.

Payne was eyeing a Top 5 finish with some close battles between himself, Stanaway, Kostecki, and Wood before suffering from a power steering issue, resulting in Payne falling back in the field, finishing in a well-deserved 9th place.

PremiAir Racing’s Richie Stanaway had a rollercoaster of a race. Making up two places on the first lap after starting on the grid in 7th. Mostert and Stanaway went head to head on Lap 11, with Mostert passing on Stanaway and Stanaway not having a bar of it, taking the outside line and taking the position back on the next corner.

Lap 12 is when the race changed for Stanaway, with Cooper Murray and Mostert squeezing him out, resulting in contact and Stanaway being spat out off track, losing momentum, and moving down the field to 18th. Stanaway managed to make back two places and finished the race 16th.

Brad Jones Racing Andre Heimgartner started the race 8th after an impressive qualifying run but struggled to find the pace during his race. By Lap 5, he lost four spots to Wood, Golding, Mostert, and De Pasquale, finishing the race just outside the Top 10 in 12th place.

“It was a bit of a battle for us today. Unfortunately, whether it was my driving or the set-up, we just didn’t quite nail it on the head. I struggled from a few laps in, and then got bailed a few times by people and then had to decide whether I would have a crash or preserve myself, but I think there are some good lessons. Overall, today’s been positive.” said Heimgartner.

Teammate Jaxon Evans started 15th on the grid and had a clean race compared to the rest of the field, finishing in 18th place.

“Day one, the busiest day for us, is complete here at the Grand Prix. It was not a great day; we struggled a bit, aside from the first quali session. We started the race today 14th, which was okay, but there was plenty of carnage out there with people crashing into each other and some average moves, which unfortunately we were on the receiving end of a couple, so we finished the race 18th with a few battle scars. Not an ideal start to the weekend.” said Evans

Memorable Race Highlights –

• Rookie Aaron Cameron and Macauley Jones went off after battling it out going into Turn 3. Cameron’s car ended up beached in the gravel, causing the race’s only safety car as Cameron ended up finishing the race a lap down due to that incident.
• Kai Allen and Macauley Jones go head-to-head, making contact, which sends Allen into the wall, damaging the rear and front left of Allen’s car. Allen fell back on the grid to 22nd and finished the race 20th.
• Cam Waters started the race 22nd after a shock qualifying session. He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty in this race, driving his Ford Mustang car as if he were racing in NASCAR. In a remarkable effort, Waters made up 16 places to finish the race in 6th place. It was an astonishing drive from the current pole-sitter in the 2025 driver standings.
• Water’s teammate Thomas Randle nearly matched Water’s astonishing drive, making up 13 spots as he finished the race in 8th after starting from 21st.
• PremiAir Racing driver James Golding had a big moment with an inside tyre bundle on Lap 11. The hit from the bundle sent him flying into the gravel off-track, causing severe damage to his Chevrolet Camaro and requiring a visit to the pits. Golding did get back out to finish the race but was two laps down.

It was a Triple Eight Racing 1-2 for Race 4 of the 2025 Supercars Championship, with Feeney leading the race from green to chequered. Will Brown kept him on his toes and a remarkable podium finish for Matt Stone Racing’s Cameron Hill, who fought to the end to score his first maiden podium in his career, finishing 3rd.

“It’s so good to be back at the grand prix. I love it here. I’ve had a really good run the last few years, and today has been nothing short of that.” Feeney said

“I can’t thank the team enough. Although we were close at Sydney a lot of times, they really deserve a win here and a one-two. Will drove unreal there today.

“I got the start and then we just tried to manage it from there. It’s obviously great having a teammate behind who you know is fast and where their car is going to be good”

Race 5 of the 2025 Supercars Championship kicks off tomorrow at 4.50 pm NZT. Another 3 Kiwis start in the Top 10 – Andre Heimgartner in 4th, Richie Stanaway in 7th and Ryan Wood in 10th. If today’s race is anything to go by, it will be one to watch.

Cam Waters still tops the driver standings with 369 points, a 45-point lead ahead of Will Brown (324 points) and 78 78-point lead on Broc Feeney (291 points). Kiwi Matthew Payne stays in 5th with 250 points, and Andre Heimgartner is in 9th with 167 points. Ryan Wood jumps to 13th place with 146 points, Jaxon Evans in 15th with 119 points and Richie Stanaway in 23rd with 63 points.

Full Race Results: 2025 Repco Supercars Championship – Melbourne Supersprint – Race 4

Header Image: Walkinshaw Andretti United